“Our strength is grounded in our individuals, civic, religious and business leaders working and making things happen. But government can't stand on the sidelines; it can and should refocus our energies on building an economy that grows for everybody. I remain confident that the future still looks brighter than the past.” – President Obama 12/4/13 Center For American Progress

CA’s Gov Brown (D) Leads on Immigrants Rights

GOVERNOR BROWN SIGNS AB 60

10-3-2013 gov.ca.gov

LOS ANGELES – Joining immigrant rights, community, faith, law enforcement and local elected leaders in Los Angeles and Fresno, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed AB 60, extending the legal right to drive on the state’s roadways to millions more Californians.

“When a million people without their documents drive legally and with respect in the state of California, the rest of this country will have to stand up and take notice,” said Governor Brown. “No longer are undocumented people in the shadows. They are alive and well and respected in the state of California.”

AB 60 by Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) requires the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue a driver’s license to undocumented persons who can prove identity and California residency and meet all other licensing requirements, such as passing the written and behind-the-wheel driving exams. The law becomes operative no later than January 1, 2015.

Studies done by the DMV and AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that unlicensed drivers were more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than validly-licensed drivers. AB 60 will help make the roads safer by broadening the state’s effort to ensure that all California drivers are properly trained, tested, licensed and insured.

Immigration reform advocates are rallying today in cities across the United States to call on the U.S. House of Representatives to give legal status to undocumented U.S. residents.

While gridlock continues in Washington, California continues to move forward on immigration reform. On Thursday, Governor Brown signed AB 60, extending the legal right to drive on the state’s roadways to millions of Californians and in October 2011, Governor Brown signed AB 131, the California Dream Act.

The Governor signed the following bills today:

• AB 4 by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) – Prohibits a law enforcement official from detaining an individual on the basis of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody, unless specified conditions are met.

• AB 35 by Assemblymember Roger Hernández (D-West Covina) – Provides that immigration consultants, attorneys, notaries public, and organizations accredited by the United States Board of Immigration Appeals are the only individuals authorized to charge a fee for providing services associated with filing an application under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s deferred action program.

• AB 60 by Assembly Member Alejo – Requiring DMV to issue a driver license to applicants [legal U.S. citizens as well as non-U.S. citizens] who can prove identity and California residence and meet all other licensing requirements, such as passing the driver license knowledge and behind-the-wheel driving exams.

• AB 524 by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) – Provides that a threat to report the immigration status or suspected immigration status of an individual or the individual’s family may induce fear sufficient to constitute extortion.

• AB 1024 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Allows applicants, who are not lawfully present in the United States, to be admitted as an attorney at law.

• SB 141 by Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) – Requires that the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and requests that the University of California, exempt a United States citizen who resides in a foreign country, and is in their first year as a matriculated student, from nonresident tuition if the student demonstrates financial need, has a parent or guardian who was deported or voluntarily departed from the U. S., lived in California immediately before moving abroad, and attended a secondary school in California for at least three years.

• SB 150 by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) – Authorizes a community college district to exempt pupils attending community colleges as a special part-time student from paying nonresident tuition.

• SB 666 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) – Provides for a suspension or revocation of an employer’s business license for retaliation against employees and others on the basis of citizenship and immigration status, and establishes a civil penalty up to $10,000 per violation.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
June 22, 2013

Hi everybody. Right now, the United States Senate is debating a bipartisan, commonsense bill that would be an important step toward fixing our broken immigration system.

It’s a bill that would continue to strengthen security at our borders, and hold employers more accountable if they knowingly hire undocumented workers, so they won’t have an unfair advantage over businesses that follow the law.

It’s a bill that would modernize the legal immigration system so that, as we train American workers for the jobs of tomorrow, we’re also attracting the highly skilled entrepreneurs and engineers who grow our economy for everyone.

It’s a bill that would provide a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are in this country illegally – a pathway that includes passing a background check, learning English, paying taxes and a penalty, then going to the back of the line behind everyone trying to come here legally.

And, a few days ago, a report from the Congressional Budget Office definitively showed that this bipartisan, commonsense bill will help the middle class grow our economy and shrink our deficits, by making sure that every worker in America plays by the same set of rules and pays taxes like everyone else.

According to this independent report, reforming our immigration system would reduce our deficits by almost a trillion dollars over the next two decades. And it will boost our economy by more than 5 percent, in part because of businesses created, investments made, and technologies invented by immigrants.

This comes on the heels of another report from the independent office that monitors Social Security’s finances, which says that this immigration bill would actually strengthen the long-term health and solvency of Social Security for future generations.

Because with this bill, millions of additional people will start paying more in taxes for things like Social Security and education. That’ll make the economy fairer for middle-class families.

So that’s what comprehensive immigration reform looks like. Stronger enforcement. A smarter legal immigration system. A pathway to earned citizenship. A more vibrant, growing economy that’s fairer on the middle class. And a more stable fiscal future for our kids.

Now, the bill isn’t perfect. It’s a compromise. Nobody is going to get everything they want – not Democrats, not Republicans, not me. But it’s consistent with the principles that I and others have laid out for commonsense reform. That’s why Republicans and Democrats, CEOs and labor leaders, are saying that now is the time to pass this bill. If you agree with us, reach out to your Senators and Representatives. Tell them that the time for excuses is over; it’s time to fix our broken immigration system once and for all.

We can do this, because we are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants; a place enriched by the contributions of people from all over the world, and stronger for it. That’s been the story of America from the start. Let’s keep it going. Thanks, and have a great weekend.

11/22/2014 06:05:36 PM PST By Josh Richman and David E. Early – mercurynews

Twenty years ago this month, 59 percent of California voters passed a ballot measure designed to set up a state-run immigration system and deny most public benefits — including K-12 education — to illegal immigrants. Proposition 187 was widely viewed as one of the harshest anti-immigrant measures in the country.

But when President Barack Obama last week signed executive orders to protect about 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation, there were only muted protests in the Golden State. And polls show that more Californians back Obama on this than oppose him.

“It’s a very different atmosphere from what we had in the 1990s, when there was more fear,” said pollster Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California.

He said California has found that “if you’re going to have a strong economy, you’ve got to have an immigration policy that’s working for you” — from Central Valley farms, to restaurants and hotels, to domestic work in homes across the state.

There’s no doubt that the California of 2014 is a much different place than the California of 1994. It’s much less white, and a whole lot more blue at the ballot box. Most of all, it’s a state — unlike much of the nation — that has come to see illegal immigration as a fact of life.

While employing and living alongside these immigrants, Californians see in them reflections of their own families, said Mark Silverman, immigration policy director at the San Francisco-based Immigrant Resource Legal Center. An immigration attorney since 1983, he recalls his grandmother weeping as she described escaping to America from Ukraine’s anti-Jewish pogroms.

“We need to remember the tears of our grandmothers,” he said.

In hindsight, the change began almost immediately after the passage of Proposition 187.

The Rev. Jon Pedigo remembers he was so angry that he instantly started planning a march from his parish in Morgan Hill to St. Joseph’s Cathedral in San Jose.

“I said, ‘I’m going to take that frickin’ cross from the church and I’m gonna walk to the downtown cathedral and demand that something be done,'” said Pedigo, now pastor of East San Jose’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. The next morning he led 250 people on the 21-mile walk.

“We filled the cathedral. We filled the park. It was amazing,” he said. “We said, ‘We will not put up with this, and we want God on our side.'”

Watching Obama on television Friday as he spoke in Las Vegas about his executive actions, Pedigo mused that California’s powerful transformation on the illegal immigration issue is rooted in the traditions of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez. Both, he said, understood that “you don’t start with power — you start with people, and people grow into their power. Now, today in California, you can’t get elected if you are anti-immigrant.”

Baldassare’s institute in September found that 61 percent of Californians believe immigrants are a benefit to the state because of their hard work and job skills, compared with 32 percent who said they’re a burden because they use public services. That’s a far cry from when PPIC first asked the question in April 1998 and a roughly equal number of Californians felt each way.

Early this year, PPIC found that 86 percent of California adults favored providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. And with Congress dragging its feet, the Field Poll found in late August that 46 percent of California voters favored Obama issuing an executive order to make broad changes to the nation’s immigration policies; 36 percent were opposed.

Presidential Memorandum — Creating Welcoming Communities and Fully Integrating Immigrants and Refugees
President Obama established a White House Task Force on New Americans, an interagency effort to identify and support State and local efforts at integration that are working and to consider how to expand and replicate successful models. The Task Force, which will engage with community, business, and faith leaders, as well as State and local elected officials, will help determine additional steps the Federal Government can take to ensure its programs and policies are serving diverse communities that include new Americans.

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California Leadson on Immigrants Rights

GOVERNOR BROWN SIGNS AB 60

10-3-2013 gov.ca.gov

LOS ANGELES – Joining immigrant rights, community, faith, law enforcement and local elected leaders in Los Angeles and Fresno, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed AB 60, extending the legal right to drive on the state’s roadways to millions more Californians.

“When a million people without their documents drive legally and with respect in the state of California, the rest of this country will have to stand up and take notice,” said Governor Brown. “No longer are undocumented people in the shadows. They are alive and well and respected in the state of California.”

AB 60 by Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) requires the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue a driver’s license to undocumented persons who can prove identity and California residency and meet all other licensing requirements, such as passing the written and behind-the-wheel driving exams. The law becomes operative no later than January 1, 2015.

Studies done by the DMV and AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that unlicensed drivers were more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than validly-licensed drivers. AB 60 will help make the roads safer by broadening the state’s effort to ensure that all California drivers are properly trained, tested, licensed and insured.

Immigration reform advocates are rallying today in cities across the United States to call on the U.S. House of Representatives to give legal status to undocumented U.S. residents.

While gridlock continues in Washington, California continues to move forward on immigration reform. On Thursday, Governor Brown signed AB 60, extending the legal right to drive on the state’s roadways to millions of Californians and in October 2011, Governor Brown signed AB 131, the California Dream Act.

The Governor signed the following bills today:

• AB 4 by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) – Prohibits a law enforcement official from detaining an individual on the basis of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody, unless specified conditions are met.

• AB 35 by Assemblymember Roger Hernández (D-West Covina) – Provides that immigration consultants, attorneys, notaries public, and organizations accredited by the United States Board of Immigration Appeals are the only individuals authorized to charge a fee for providing services associated with filing an application under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s deferred action program.

• AB 524 by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) – Provides that a threat to report the immigration status or suspected immigration status of an individual or the individual’s family may induce fear sufficient to constitute extortion.

• AB 1024 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Allows applicants, who are not lawfully present in the United States, to be admitted as an attorney at law.

• SB 141 by Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) – Requires that the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and requests that the University of California, exempt a United States citizen who resides in a foreign country, and is in their first year as a matriculated student, from nonresident tuition if the student demonstrates financial need, has a parent or guardian who was deported or voluntarily departed from the U. S., lived in California immediately before moving abroad, and attended a secondary school in California for at least three years.

• SB 150 by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) – Authorizes a community college district to exempt pupils attending community colleges as a special part-time student from paying nonresident tuition.

• SB 666 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) – Provides for a suspension or revocation of an employer’s business license for retaliation against employees and others on the basis of citizenship and immigration status, and establishes a civil penalty up to $10,000 per violation.

Weekly Address: Time for Congress to Pass Commonsense Immigration Reform

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
June 22, 2013

Hi everybody. Right now, the United States Senate is debating a bipartisan, commonsense bill that would be an important step toward fixing our broken immigration system.

It’s a bill that would continue to strengthen security at our borders, and hold employers more accountable if they knowingly hire undocumented workers, so they won’t have an unfair advantage over businesses that follow the law.

It’s a bill that would modernize the legal immigration system so that, as we train American workers for the jobs of tomorrow, we’re also attracting the highly skilled entrepreneurs and engineers who grow our economy for everyone.

It’s a bill that would provide a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are in this country illegally – a pathway that includes passing a background check, learning English, paying taxes and a penalty, then going to the back of the line behind everyone trying to come here legally.

And, a few days ago, a report from the Congressional Budget Office definitively showed that this bipartisan, commonsense bill will help the middle class grow our economy and shrink our deficits, by making sure that every worker in America plays by the same set of rules and pays taxes like everyone else.

According to this independent report, reforming our immigration system would reduce our deficits by almost a trillion dollars over the next two decades. And it will boost our economy by more than 5 percent, in part because of businesses created, investments made, and technologies invented by immigrants.

This comes on the heels of another report from the independent office that monitors Social Security’s finances, which says that this immigration bill would actually strengthen the long-term health and solvency of Social Security for future generations.

Because with this bill, millions of additional people will start paying more in taxes for things like Social Security and education. That’ll make the economy fairer for middle-class families.

So that’s what comprehensive immigration reform looks like. Stronger enforcement. A smarter legal immigration system. A pathway to earned citizenship. A more vibrant, growing economy that’s fairer on the middle class. And a more stable fiscal future for our kids.

Now, the bill isn’t perfect. It’s a compromise. Nobody is going to get everything they want – not Democrats, not Republicans, not me. But it’s consistent with the principles that I and others have laid out for commonsense reform. That’s why Republicans and Democrats, CEOs and labor leaders, are saying that now is the time to pass this bill. If you agree with us, reach out to your Senators and Representatives. Tell them that the time for excuses is over; it’s time to fix our broken immigration system once and for all.

We can do this, because we are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants; a place enriched by the contributions of people from all over the world, and stronger for it. That’s been the story of America from the start. Let’s keep it going. Thanks, and have a great weekend.

The enthusiastic demonstration of support for immigration reform this week has proven to Congress that the broad coalition behind commonsense solutions to our nation’s broken immigration laws is as strong as it has ever been. It’s time for the House of Representatives to reopen the government, pay their bills, and get back to the important work of moving the economy forward. More than 100 days ago, the Senate passed a strong bipartisan immigration reform bill that would reduce the deficit by over $800 billion and create jobs. House Democrats introduced a similar bill last week. It is time for House Republicans to put politics aside and join Democrats to fix our broken immigration system and make the economy stronger.

SAN JOSE — From the parking lot where they had gathered, past the fresh-fruit stands and the karaoke joint, down shaded streets littered with autumn leaves, the marchers heaved forward Saturday morning with pride and purpose.

“What do we want?” a bull-horned organizer would shout over and over into the sleepy South San Jose neighborhood, in both Spanish and English.

“Reforma!” came the unified response, from grandmothers and kids in strollers, union members and energetic teenagers in white T-shirts that said, “Yo Voto” and “I AM A VOTER.”

When do we want it?

“Ahora!”

Several hundred strong, the animated crowd moved like a conga line through the working-class enclave of Edenvale, all enthused with hopeful energy, all steadfastly fixed on message.

“We want our representatives in Congress to know that we badly need immigration reform,” said Lorena Guzman, a 23-year-old medical assistant from Gilroy, as she helped her two young sons out of the family van parked near Christ the King Church on Monterey Highway. “It’s not for me personally, but for my community, whose members have been waiting for a long time while our politicians keep putting if off.”

The U.S. Senate in July passed a comprehensive immigration reform on a 68-to-32 vote, with support from 14 GOP members and all Democrats. But the measure has been stalled since then in the Republican controlled House.

Bill Maher: California Booming Because We Don’t Care About ‘Nonsense That Keeps Fox Up at Night’

Published on Sep 27, 2013

September 27, 2013 – Bill Maher ended Friday night with a proud boast that California is creating the kind of “moderate liberal nation” the country as a whole really needs to be, and it’s doing so thanks to the lack of a Republican “legislative cockblock.” Maher boasted, “We’re not just gluten-free and peanut-free and soy-free, we’re tea party-free! Yes, we can live in reality!” He tore into the “caboose part of America” that isn’t embracing the kind of change California is, saying that conservatives may love the free market and states rights, but those two things will ultimately “bend the country in California’s image as a socialist fagtopia.”

In California, Maher said, NRA stands for “nuts, racists, and assholes,” and while other states are “working with Jesus to make abortion more miserable,” California is making it easier, not to mention being more welcoming to illegal immigrants.

Maher concluded, “We can’t be worrying about the nonsense that keeps Fox News up at night.”

DMV office, designed to help undocumented immigrants get licenses, opens in East San Jose

12/3/14 David E. Early – mercurynews

SAN JOSE — The grand opening of the East Side’s new DMV office — primarily aimed at helping undocumented immigrants get driver’s licenses — showcased a gigantic and unusually pristine facility.

“Wow,” said one woman coming out of the restroom, all done up with sparkling mirrors and in fashionable shades of gray. “Kind of spectacular in there and everywhere,” she said of the redone building that had stood shuttered for 15 years.

The ribbon-cutting dedication, attended by local and state politicians, symbolized the two-decade battle to allow illegal immigrants to legally drive. The new Department of Motor Vehicles office is one of four new ones opening in response to Assembly Bill 60, passed last year.

“There are 2.8 million undocumented immigrants in California and we expect to serve 1.4 million new customers in the next three years,” said Jean Shiomoto, director of the state DMV. She said the new temporary office was so big “it’s like two of our regular offices glued together.”

New San Jose DMV Office Open to Process Original Driver License Applications

SACRAMENTO —The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has opened a fourth temporary Driver License Processing Center (DLPC) to immediately begin processing new driver license applications for individuals who can verify legal presence, and will start taking applications under AB 60 on January 2, 2015 when the new law is implemented.

The new office in San Jose opened Monday, December 1, 2014, at 8 a.m. Three other DLPC offices located in Lompoc, Stanton, and Granada Hills opened on November 17, 2014. Applicants can walk-in or schedule an appointment online at http://www.dmv.ca.gov or by phone at 1-800-777-0133 up to 90 days before arriving.

The new offices will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. On Wednesdays the offices will open at 9:00 a.m. and close at 5:00 p.m. Starting January 3, 2015, the DLPC’s will also be open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

In addition to these four temporary DLPCs, all regular DMV field offices in California will continue to process new driver license applications by appointment only. It is easy to make an appointment to come into a DMV field office; you can make an appointment online, use the DMV Now App, or call 1-800-777-0133. Appointments are available up to 90 days in advance for new driver licenses and 45 days in advance for other services.

The four new DLPCs are currently only open for California driver license applicants who can verify legal presence and have a valid social security number. AB 60 applicants will be able to apply for a California driver license starting January 2, 2015, when the new law is implemented.

Since AB 60 passed last year, DMV has been preparing to successfully implement the new law and continue to provide all Californians with excellent customer service. DMV is extending office hours and adding appointment opportunities to support the issuance of all original driver licenses, including licenses that will be issued under AB 60 next year. DMV will be offering extended Saturday office hours by appointment for all new driver license applicants at up to 60 DMV field offices across California. New driver license applicants can now schedule appointments with the DMV up to 90 days in advance, double the current 45–day window.

State law requires motorists to prove identity and legal presence to obtain a driver license. Under AB 60, motorists who cannot prove legal presence must prove identity and California residency—and pass the required vision test, driver license knowledge test, and the behind-the-wheel drive test—to obtain a driver license. On December 1, 2014, the Office of Administrative Law approved the AB 60 regulations listing the documents DMV will accept to verify the identity and California residence of future applicants. The list of documents that applicants will use to obtain a California driver license under AB 60 is posted on the DMV website here: ab60.dmv.ca.gov

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
October 5, 2013

Good morning. Earlier this week, the Republican House of Representatives chose to shut down a government they don’t like over a health care law they don’t like. And I’ve talked a lot about the real-world consequences of this shutdown in recent days – the services disrupted; the benefits delayed; the public servants kicked off the job without pay.

But today, I want to let the Americans dealing with those real-world consequences have their say. And these are just a few of the many heartbreaking letters I’ve gotten from them in the past couple weeks – including more than 30,000 over the past few days.

Kelly Mumper lives in rural Alabama. She works in early education, and has three children of her own in the Marines. Here’s what she wrote to me on Wednesday.

“Our Head Start agency…was forced to stop providing services on October 1st for over 770 children, and 175 staff were furloughed. I am extremely concerned for the welfare of these children. There are parents who work and who attend school. Where are they leaving their children…is it a safe environment…are [they] getting the food that they receive at their Head Start program?”

On the day Julia Pruden’s application to buy a home for her and her special needs children was approved by the USDA’s rural development direct loan program, she wrote me from Minot, North Dakota.

“We put in an offer to purchase a home this weekend, and it was accepted…if funding does not go through, our chances of the American Dream [are] down the drain…We have worked really hard to get our credit to be acceptable to purchase a home…if it weren’t for the direct lending program provided by the USDA, we would not qualify to buy the home we found.”

These are just two of the many letters I’ve received from people who work hard; try to make ends meet; try to do right by their families. They’re military or military spouses who’ve seen commissaries closed on their bases. They’re veterans worried the services they’ve earned won’t be there. They’re business owners who’ve seen their contracts with the government put on hold, worried they’ll have to let people go. I want them to know, I read the stories you share with me.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) challenged Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) contention Sunday that “there are not the votes in the House to pass a clean CR” and reopen the government.

“Well, first, the speaker said there aren’t the votes on the floor to re-open the government. Let me issue him a friendly challenge. Put it on the floor Monday or Tuesday. I would bet there are the votes to pass it,” Schumer said on ABC’s “This Week” appearing just after Boehner. “We have just about every Democrat, 21 Republicans have publicly said they would. There are many more Republicans who have said that they privately would.”

“So, Speaker Boehner, just vote. Put it on the floor and let’s see if you’re right.”

President Obama plans to respond Monday to House Speaker John Boehner’s claim that a clean government funding bill wouldn’t clear his chamber by insisting that Boehner prove it by holding a vote.

He’ll pressure the speaker in remarks at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters in Washington, to which he made an unannounced visit as the government shutdown dragged into its seventh day. “Congress should hold a vote on the House floor today to re-open the government – it would pass with bipartisan support,” a White House official said as the president arrived at the agency.

“The administration and Democrats in Congress are asking the speaker to prove that a majority in the House would not vote for the Senate-passed bill to reopen the government by holding an up-or-down vote on the clean continuing resolution to end this impasse that is impacting vital services provided by agencies across government, including FEMA,” the official added.

Congress should also move ahead to “remove the threat of default and vote to raise the debt ceiling,” the official said. “The president will urge Congress to get past this manufactured crisis and work on a broader budget agreement that will help economic growth and middle class families, and do so in fiscally responsible way.”

“The president has been willing to negotiate and compromise to make progress on a budget agreement — from standing by his offer to Speaker Boehner and including it in his budget, to his repeated efforts to find willing partners in Republicans in the House and Senate. But the President is not willing to do so under the shadow of default or a government shutdown that is hurting our economy and families across the country.”

Obama will also use his visit to thank employees at FEMA for their hard work in recent days, who have spent recent days preparing to respond to Tropical Storm Karen and bad weather in the Midwest, the official said. FEMA has had to furlough some staff while others are working without pay, as other agency functions have been “impacted by the current government shutdown.”

THE PRESIDENT: I’m here at FEMA for a couple of reasons. First of all, I want to thank Craig Fugate and his entire team, and the incredible workers who are here at FEMA. They are having to, under less than optimal situations, still respond to Mother Nature, which doesn’t stop just because the government has shut down.

I wanted to get initially a briefing on what had happened with Hurricane Karen, became Tropical Karen, and then fortunately dissipated, so we dodged a bullet there. In the meantime, we’re on tornado watch here in the Mid-Atlantic states because of severe weather patterns. And we’ve got blizzards up north, we’ve got some weather patterns in the middle of the country that we’re still monitoring. And so I just want to say thank you to all of you for the incredible work that you’re doing.

I think it’s important to understand that the people here at FEMA have been doing everything they can to respond to potential events. Here at FEMA, they’re in touch with their state and local partners in case resources are needed. FEMA remains prepared for natural disasters year around, with supplies pre-positioned in distribution centers across the country.

But their job has been made more difficult. Thanks to the folks at FEMA, we were prepared for what might have happened down in Florida. Nevertheless, the government is still shut down, services are still interrupted, and hundreds of thousands of hardworking public servants, including many FEMA professionals, are still furloughed without pay, or they’re not allowed to work at all.

So Craig was just explaining to me here at FEMA — about 86 percent of the FEMA workforce is furloughed. In response to the potential event that might have happened down in Florida and along the coasts, Craig called back 200 of those workers. Keep in mind, calling them back doesn’t mean they were getting paid, it just means they had the privilege of working without pay to make sure that they were doing everything they can to respond to the potential needs of their fellow citizens.

Now that this particular storm has dissipated, Craig is going to have to re-furlough at least 100 of those folks who were called back. So think about that. Here you are, somebody who’s a FEMA professional dedicated to doing your job; at a moment’s notice you’re willing to show up here in case people got in trouble and respond to them, even though you’re not getting paid, even though you don’t have certainty. And now you’re being put back on furlough because the government is shut down. That’s no way of doing business.

That, by the way, just speaks to the day-to-day emergencies that may come up and that is FEMA’s job to respond to. Craig was also explaining the fact that when it comes to training first responders, for example, we have on a weekly basis already scheduled training for first responders that now have to be rescheduled. It will probably end up ultimately costing the government more money for us to put those things back together again. And so not only is this shutdown hurting FEMA workers, not only is it making it more difficult for us to respond to potential natural disasters, but it may actually end up costing taxpayers more than it should.

Right now, Congress should do what’s in the best interest of the economy and the American people, and that’s move beyond this manufactured crisis and work together to focus on growth, jobs, and providing the vital services that Americans all across the country depend on, including the services that FEMA provides.

Consumer borrowing rose more than projected in August as Americans took out more loans for motor vehicle purchases and education.

The $13.6 billion increase in credit followed a $10.4 billion gain in July, the Federal Reserve said today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a $12 billion advance. Non-revolving debt, which includes financing for college tuition and motor vehicles, climbed $14.5 billion.

The boost to household wealth from improved home values and stock-market gains has put consumers in a position to take advantage of cheaper borrowing costs for major purchases such as automobiles. Credit-card lending declined for a third month, showing Americans are being deliberate in taking on more debt to finance other purchases.

“The auto industry has done quite well, and student loans from the federal government have been on the rise,” said Gregory Daco, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics USA in New York, who projected a $13 billion increase in overall credit. “Consumers are willing to spend, but they’re more cautious about ensuring they have sufficient income.”

Estimates of the 34 economists surveyed ranged from increases of $9 billion to $18 billion. The report doesn’t track debt secured by real estate, such as mortgages and home-equity lines of credit.
Stocks fell as lawmakers remained deadlocked over extending the nation’s debt limit. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 0.6 percent to 1,681.1 at 3:34 p.m. in New York.

OAKLAND — Working swiftly, precisely, and always as a pair, former President Jimmy Carter and his wife of 67 years, Rosalynn, devoted several hours Monday to framing the windows of a new home in an East Oakland neighborhood troubled by crime.

The Carters’ visit to the Habitat for Humanity construction site came less than a week after robbers invaded the 12-home development, held eight workers of the nonprofit homebuilding group at gunpoint and fired bullets into the air.

“I think there’s been a general rising up of everybody that lives in this community against that crime, which was especially despicable,” Carter said.

The 89-year-old former president said he believed a “growing community cohesion” and the example set by Habitat’s well-built new homes would ripple across the surrounding Brookfield Village neighborhood, raising its standard of living.
“I don’t know much about the community, but that’s what I’ve seen happen all over the world,” Carter said.

He added, optimistically: “I would guess that that would be the last time that the news media would hear, certainly for many years, of a robbery in this area. I think there’s been such an adverse reaction in the general public here that it’s not likely to be repeated.”

President Barack Obama stayed at home this week, and now needs to fill the hours.

With his trip to Asia canceled, staffers furloughed and a declared refusal to negotiate with Republicans until the government reopens, the White House is left with a week-long hole in the president’s public schedule.

His public schedule for Tuesday includes only his standard briefings and a closed-press meeting with Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

On Monday morning, senior aides briefed Obama on the government shutdown’s effects on various programs, including Head Start. Then he traveled about a mile and a half for an unannounced stop at Federal Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters in Washington, and told agency employees he had planned to visit to get updated on the response to the now-dissipated Tropical Storm Karen. Instead, he stood at a lectern in a conference room and taped remarks in which he called on the House to vote on a clean continuing resolution. By the time they aired on cable news, his motorcade had already returned to the White House.

The White House has plans in the works and meetings — public and private — already on the president’s schedule, but Obama’s not likely to travel outside the Washington area or beyond the realms of the government shutdown and debt ceiling. With his advance team furloughed, the communications office short-staffed and any travel open to attacks about costs during a shutdown, Obama is geographically limited.

Late this morning, the President telephoned Speaker John Boehner from the Oval Office and repeated what he told him when they met at the White House last week: the President is willing to negotiate with Republicans — after the threat of government shutdown and default have been removed – over policies that Republicans think would strengthen the country. The President also repeated his willingness to negotiate on priorities that he has identified including policies that expand economic opportunity, support private sector job creation, enhance the competitiveness of American businesses, strengthen the Affordable Care Act and continue to reduce the nation’s deficit.

The President urged the Speaker to hold a vote in the House of Representatives on the Senate-passed measure that would re-open the federal government immediately. Citing the Senate’s intention to pass a clean, yearlong extension of the debt limit this week, the President also pressed the Speaker to allow a timely up-or-down vote in the House to raise the debt limit with no ideological strings attached. He noted that only Congress has the authority to raise the debt limit and failure to do so would have grave consequences for middle class families and the American economy as a whole.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said it’s “mission-critical” for the U.S. to raise its $16.7 trillion debt ceiling, warning policy makers that failure to do so would seriously hurt the country and the world.

The first face-to-face talks between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders failed to break the budget logjam as a partial U.S. government shutdown entered its third day, raising the prospect of a prolonged standoff extending to the borrowing limit.

“The government shutdown is bad enough, but failure to raise the debt ceiling would be far worse, and could very seriously damage not only the U.S. economy, but the entire global economy,” Lagarde said in a speech in Washington to students at George Washington University. “So it is ‘mission-critical’ that this be resolved as soon as possible.”

Lagarde’s concern echoes a report by the U.S. Treasury Department today that a government default could have catastrophic consequences that might last decades. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew has said the U.S. started using final extraordinary measures that will be exhausted no later than Oct. 17 to avoid a breach of the debt limit.

Growth worldwide will be 2.9 percent this year and 3.6 percent next year, the IMF said in a report released today in Washington, compared with July predictions of 3.1 percent for 2013 and 3.8 percent for 2014. It sees emerging economies growing 4.5 percent this year, 0.5 percentage point less than three months ago, as projections were reduced for China, Mexico, India and Russia.

“Advanced economies are gradually strengthening” while “growth in emerging-market economies has slowed,” IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard wrote in a foreword to the World Economic Outlook report. “This confluence is leading to tensions, with emerging-market economies facing the dual challenges of slowing growth and tighter global financial conditions.”

The IMF’s forecasts factor in a short U.S. government shutdown and an agreement on the nation’s debt-limit before an Oct. 17 deadline. A stalemate that causes a default “could seriously damage the global economy,” the fund said.

Republicans ignore calls from business community to raise the debt ceiling now and pass reforms later

10/8/13 Chris Moody, Yahoo! News 1 hour ago

Business leaders are increasingly warning Republicans that their refusal to lift the nation’s ability to borrow more money could badly damage the economy, but the GOP, under ferocious pressure from conservatives to force budget concessions from President Barack Obama, are standing their ground.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups have actively engaged lawmakers for weeks and say while they agree with the need for reforms, the top priority should be avoiding the default a failure to OK another debt ceiling increase would bring.

“Our top lobbyists are continuing to talk to scores of members of Congress and their staff urging them to address this and stop kicking the can down the road,” U.S. Chamber spokeswoman Blair Latoff Holmes told Yahoo News. “It is up to lawmakers and the administration to find common ground and reach a deal that will fund the government and raise the debt limit to avoid default. We will continue to make that case to everyone who will listen.”

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. I am eager to take your questions, so I’ll try to be brief at the top.

This morning, I had a chance to speak with Speaker Boehner, and I told him what I’ve been saying publicly, that I am happy to talk with him and other Republicans about anything — not just issues I think are important, but also issues that they think are important. But I also told him that having such a conversation, talks, negotiations, shouldn’t require hanging the threats of a government shutdown or economic chaos over the heads of the American people.

Think about it this way. The American people do not get to demand a ransom for doing their jobs. You don’t get a chance to call your bank and say, “I’m not going to pay my mortgage this month unless you throw in a new car and an Xbox. If you’re in negotiations around buying somebody’s house, you don’t get to say “Well, let’s talk about the price I’m going to pay, and if you don’t give me the price then I’m going to burn down your house.”

That’s not how negotiations work. That’s not how it happens in business; it’s not how it happens in private life. In the same way, members of Congress — and the House Republicans, in particular — don’t get to demand ransom in exchange for doing their jobs. And two of their very basic jobs are passing a budget and making sure that America is paying its bills.

They don’t also get to say, “Unless you give me what the voters rejected in the last election, I’m going to cause a recession.” That’s not how it works. No American President would deal with a foreign leader like this. Most of you would not deal with either coworkers or business associates in this fashion, and we shouldn’t be dealing this way here in Washington.

And I’ve heard Republicans suggest that, well, no, this is reasonable, this is entirely appropriate. But as I’ve said before, imagine if a Democratic Congress threatened to crash the global economy unless a Republican President agreed to gun background checks or immigration reform? I think it’s fair to say that Republicans would not think that was appropriate.

So let’s lift these threats from our families and our businesses, and let’s get down to work.

It’s not like this is a new position that I’m taking here. I had Speaker Boehner and the other leaders in just last week. Either my Chief of Staff or I have had serious conversations on the budget with Republicans more than 20 times since March. So we’ve been talking all kinds of business. What we haven’t been able to get are serious positions from the Republicans that would allow us to actually resolve some core differences. And they have decided to run out the clock until there’s a government shutdown or the possibility of default, thinking that it would give them more leverage. That’s not my characterization; they’ve said it themselves. That was their strategy from the start. And that is not how our government is supposed to run.

It’s not just me, by the way, who has taken the position that we’re willing to have conversations about anything. Senate Democrats have asked to sit down with House Republicans and hash out a budget, but have been rejected by the House Republicans 19 times. At the beginning of this year, Speaker Boehner said, what we want is regular order and a serious budget process, so the Senate should pass a bill and the House should pass a bill. And then, a committee comes together and they hash out their differences, and they send a bill to the President. Well, that’s exactly what Democrats did. Except somewhere along the way, House Republicans decided they wouldn’t appoint people to the committee to try to negotiate. And 19 times, they’ve rejected that.

So even after all that, the Democrats in the Senate still passed a budget that effectively reflects Republican priorities, at Republican budget levels, just to keep the government open. And the House Republicans couldn’t do that either.

The point is I think not only the White House, but also Democrats in the Senate and Democrats in the House have shown more than ample willingness to talk about any issues that the Republicans are concerned about. But we can’t do it if the entire basis of the Republican strategy is, we’re going to shut down the government or cause economic chaos if we don’t get 100 percent of what we want.

So my suggestion to the Speaker has been and will continue to be let’s stop the excuses. Let’s take a vote in the House. Let’s end this shutdown right now. Let’s put people back to work. There are enough reasonable Republicans and Democrats in the House who are willing to vote yes on a budget that the Senate has already passed. That vote could take place today. The shutdown would be over. Then, serious negotiations could proceed around every item in the budget.

Statement from United States President Barack Obama, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso

Washington, D.C. – We, the Leaders of the United States and the European Union, are pleased to announce that, based on recommendations from the U.S.-EU High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth co-chaired by United States Trade Representative Kirk and European Trade Commissioner De Gucht, the United States and the European Union will each initiate the internal procedures necessary to launch negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

“The transatlantic economic relationship is already the world’s largest, accounting for half of global economic output and nearly one trillion dollars in goods and services trade, and supporting millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

“We are committed to making this relationship an even stronger driver of our prosperity. In that regard, we welcome the High Level Working Group’s recommendations on how we can expand further our transatlantic trade and investment partnership, promoting greater growth and supporting more jobs.

“A high-standard Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership would advance trade and investment liberalization and address regulatory and other non-tariff barriers.

“Through this negotiation, the United States and the European Union will have the opportunity not only to expand trade and investment across the Atlantic, but also to contribute to the development of global rules that can strengthen the multilateral trading system.”

We, the Leaders of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam, are pleased to announce today that our countries are on track to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. Ministers and negotiators have made significant progress in recent months on all the legal texts and annexes on access to our respective goods, services, investment, financial services, government procurement, and temporary entry markets. We have agreed that negotiators should now proceed to resolve all outstanding issues with the objective of completing this year a comprehensive and balanced, regional agreement that achieves the goals we established in Honolulu in 2011, ensures the benefits of the agreement are fully shared, and takes into account the diversity of our levels of development.

A final Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement must reflect our common vision to establish a comprehensive, next-generation model for addressing both new and traditional trade and investment issues, supporting the creation and retention of jobs and promoting economic development in our countries. The deepest and broadest possible liberalization of trade and investment will ensure the greatest benefits for countries’ large and small manufacturers, service providers, farmers, and ranchers, as well as workers, innovators, investors, and consumers.

We see the Trans-Pacific Partnership, with its high ambition and pioneering standards for new trade disciplines, as a model for future trade agreements and a promising pathway to our APEC goal of building a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific. We are encouraged by the growing interest in this important negotiation and are engaging with other Asia-Pacific countries that express interest in the TPP regarding their possible future participation.

Stakeholders across the region have provided valuable input to TPP negotiating teams both on-site at rounds and in our respective countries. As we work to conclude these negotiations, we will further intensify consultations with stakeholders to craft a final agreement that appropriately addresses the interests of our citizens. We look forward to review and consideration of the outcome of our work, consistent with each of our domestic processes.

Readout of Vice President Biden’s Meeting with Chairperson of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel for Sudan and South Sudan and former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki

This afternoon Vice President Biden met the Chairperson of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel for Sudan and South Sudan and former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki at the White House. Joining the Vice President was United States Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Donald Booth. The Vice President thanked President Mbeki for his leadership and that of the African Union in supporting the implementation of the agreements between Sudan and South Sudan. The two leaders agreed on the importance of continued progress, including towards the full resumption of trade across borders, and resolving the final status of Abyei. The Vice President emphasized that African Union leadership will be vital to help bring the conflicts in Blue Nile, Southern Kordofan, and Darfur to a peaceful end, and to promoting inclusive governance and full respect for human rights in both countries. The Vice President reaffirmed the Administration’s commitment to a durable and lasting peace between and within Sudan and South Sudan.

While most of Washington’s parks have been shuttered because of the government shutdown, Tuesday’s demonstration was allowed because public areas are still available to citizens for First Amendment-related activities.

Immigration activists have recently sought to reignite debate over the issue. The Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill over the summer, and while the House Judiciary Committee has passed some small bills in response, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has declined to bring those up for a floor vote.

Lewis, the famed civil rights activist who has frequently engaged in similar acts of civil disobedience, said over Twitter that it was his 45th arrest.